| The HP Photosmart C5280 shows how good design | | | | per minute) - a bit below average for this |
| can tame an inherently complicated machine. | | | | category; colour documents averaged 2.4ppm |
| This inkjet multifunction printer has a few | | | | overall, also a bit below average. At default |
| limitations and a mountain of benefits , all | | | | settings on plain paper, text looked slightly |
| available for under £100. | | | | feathery and jagged; photos looked a bit |
| | | | grainy. Special paper and settings yielded |
| Installation takes almost no effort. The | | | | smoother, more subtly coloured photos. Costs |
| setup leaflet is a little hard to read | | | | per printed page (calculated using HP's |
| because it stacks three languages' worth of | | | | estimated cartridge yields) are reasonable. |
| narrative next to each illustration, but the | | | | |
| CD-based installation process is fully | | | | The HP Photosmart C5280 produced scans and |
| automated. The HP Photosmart C5280 comes with | | | | copies quickly, and they looked good overall. |
| a USB connection, but no ethernet port. | | | | The included HP Scanning software lets you |
| | | | preview and edit images before saving a file. |
| The HP Photosmart C5280's control panel is | | | | Copies seemed a little chunkier than the |
| one of the best we've seen. Most buttons are | | | | originals, but not distractingly so. |
| clearly labeled with real words as well as | | | | |
| icons, and all are grouped by major function. | | | | The HP Photosmart C5280 has the quantity, |
| A 2.4in, tiltable LCD shows menu options; the | | | | sizing and other copying features that most |
| navigation buttons make sense. When you're | | | | home and small-office users will need, except |
| working with photos, the LCD shows thumbnails | | | | that the letter/A4-size flatbed scanner can't |
| and walks you through the editing and layout | | | | elevate its lid to accommodate books or other |
| options. A redeye-removal button automates | | | | thick media, and can't scan film or slides. |
| this common correction. SD Card, Compact | | | | |
| Flash, xD-Picture Card, and MS Pro Duo Card | | | | The Photosmart C5280 comes with a wealth of |
| slots are located on the machine's front. | | | | software and utilities, much of it launchable |
| | | | from buttons on the HP Solutions Center's |
| As usual the printer arrives with low | | | | on-screen interface. In addition to Roxio's |
| capacity cartridges, the black HP350 and | | | | disc-labeling software, you get HP's |
| colour Hp350, these should be replaced at | | | | Photosmart Essentials for editing and |
| renewal time by the more economical HP350XL | | | | managing digital photos, plus maintenance |
| and Hp351XL cartridges. | | | | utilities and links for reordering supplies |
| | | | directly from HP. An HTML-based manual |
| For paper handling the HP Photosmart C5280 | | | | complements Flash videos that explain common |
| offers a 125-sheet input tray, whose lid | | | | tasks like cartridge replacement. |
| serves as the 50-sheet output tray. Nestled | | | | |
| in a slot beneath the input tray is a special | | | | Regrettably, the HP Photosmart C5280's |
| tray for CD/DVD printing. Snap in a specially | | | | manual's various topics are inadequately |
| coated disc and then slide the tray into a | | | | linked. For instance, the description of how |
| feeder that lowers from the output area. | | | | to copy from the control panel doesn't link |
| Roxio's Express Labeler software (usually | | | | to the description of how to copy from the |
| installed automatically during setup, but | | | | PC. But in this case the disconnect is real. |
| also available on a CD) helps you create the | | | | You can manage scan and copy settings from |
| image for the disc from your PC. | | | | the HP Solutions Center or from the control |
| | | | panel, but one doesn't mirror the other - we |
| In our printing tests, the HP Photosmart | | | | could create completely different settings |
| C5280 achieved middling speeds but produced | | | | for the same job in each place. The place you |
| generally attractive prints. Plain, black | | | | send the copy command from wins the battle, |
| text pages came out at about 7.3ppm (pages | | | | but the two ought to be synchronised. |